Backgrounder: Chronicles of China´s Mt. Qomolangma expeditions

Source: Xinhua | 05-08-2008 13:13

Special report: Olympic flame atop world´s highest summit

BEIJING, May 8 (Xinhua) -- More than 100 Chinese had scaled Mt. Qomolangma in the past 48 years before a team of Chinese mountaineers carried the Beijing Olympic flame to the top of the world's highest peak Thursday morning.

Following are the chronicles of China's Mt. Qomolangma expeditions:

Video - Climbing history of Mt. Qomolangma

1960 - A Chinese team consisting of Wang Fuzhou, Qu Yinhua and Konbu made it to the summit via the North Ridge.

1975 - The second Chinese expedition to Mt. Qomolangma was launched on May 25. Nine climbers reached the summit on May 27, as Phantog became the first Chinese woman to conquer it from the north.

1988 - A joint team of China, Japan and Nepal, including three Chinese, reached the top from both the north and south simultaneously and crossed over to descend from the opposite sides. Tsering Dorje, one of the three Chinese climbers, set a world record by staying 99 minutes at the summit.

1990 - Chinese woman Guisang and other six Chinese members of the Sino-Soviet-U.S. Peace Mountaineering Team reached the top of Mt. Qomolangma on May 7-10.

1993 - Wu Chin-Hsiung became the first climber from Taiwan province to reach the summit.

1996 - Celo was the first Chinese university undergraduate to reach the summit.

1999 - Ten Chinese climbers reached the peak while lighting up the sacred flame for the 6th National Ethnic Games. Guisang became the first woman in the world to summit twice from the north. BenbaZhaxi stayed 138 minutes at the summit to break the record held by Tsering Dorje.

2003 - Fourteen Chinese of the Sino-South Korea Team and the Chinese Amateur Team made it to the top.

2005 - Female Chinese climbers Gyigyi and Lagi reached the summit for the second time. A re-measuring of Mt. Qomolangma was carried out at the same time and the height was set at 8844.43 meters.

2007 - Seventeen mountaineers had a successful rehearsal climb for the Beijing Olympic torch relay on May 9.

2008 - A team of Chinese mountaineers made history on May 8 by carrying the Beijing Olympic flame to Mt. Qomolangma and passing the torch over the last meters leading to the top after 6 hours and 17 minutes of climbing from the Attack Camp at 8,300 meters.

Editor:Zhang Ning